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14:27Why is TV 29.97 frames per second?
2.2M views • 10 years ago
Stand-up Maths
Matt Parker explains the history behind NTSC television running at 29.97 frames per second rather than 30, tracing it to the backward-compatible addition of color. He walks through the arithmetic behind the odd ratio.
18:46A COMPLETELY Upgradeable Laptop? - Framework Laptop Review
6.2M views • 5 years ago
Linus Tech Tips
Linus Tech Tips reviews the first Framework Laptop, a fully repairable and upgradeable machine. The reviewer expected a flimsy chunky device and was happily surprised.
14:06Testing 432 Hz Frequencies (and temperaments)
4M views • 7 years ago
Adam Neely
Adam Neely tests the claims for tuning to A=432 Hz by trying the unusual tuning systems that its proponents' numerology requires. He compares how they sound against standard tuning and temperaments.
12:04Anagrams, but where you can break apart letters: "Anagraphs"
256K views • 8 years ago
suckerpinch
Tom Scott-style exploration by suckerpinch (Tom7) of generalized anagrams where letters can be broken into pieces, called anagraphs, with a whimsical computational approach.
17:35Bell's Theorem: The Quantum Venn Diagram Paradox
8.1M views • 9 years ago
minutephysics
MinutePhysics, with 3Blue1Brown, explains Bell's theorem using a Venn diagram paradox and polarizing filters. It shows why no local hidden variable theory can reproduce quantum correlations.
4:18"Pyramid UFO" - NEW FOOTAGE. It's Just Bokeh, not a Pyramid
434K views • 5 years ago
Mick West
Mick West shows new night-vision reference footage indicating the Navy's supposed flying pyramid UFO is just an out-of-focus light, likely a plane near LAX, rendered triangular by bokeh. He identifies other lights as Jupiter and stars.
16:45How Airlines Quietly Became Banks
7.4M views • 4 years ago
Wendover Productions
A Wendover Productions explainer arguing that major airlines make much of their profit from loyalty programs and co-branded credit cards rather than flying. It frames airlines as quasi-banks that sell points in bulk, using United's pandemic-era loan as a hook.
Topic match · Aviation & aerospace engineering
9:49How We're Redefining the kg
2.8M views • 9 years ago
Veritasium
Veritasium explains why the kilogram is being redefined in terms of Planck's constant rather than a physical metal artifact. It visits NIST to show the Kibble balance and why measuring mass precisely is hard.
19:25New computers don't speed up old code
187K views • 1 year ago
Matthias random stuff
Matthias Wandel tests old and new code on a range of PCs, including a new mini PC, to measure how much faster modern hardware really is. He also shows optimization techniques such as branchless code, with benchmark programs on GitHub.
Topic match · Computer architecture & CPUs
4:20Why Snow and Confetti Ruin YouTube Video Quality
10.4M views • 10 years ago
Tom Scott
Tom Scott explains why confetti and snow wreck video quality, using interframe compression and bitrate. He demonstrates it live by changing the quality on screen.
Topic match · Audio & video engineering
13:05Smoother animation ≠ Better animation [read pinned comment]
16.1M views • 5 years ago
Noodle
Animator Noodle explains why frame interpolation does not make animation better, covering timing, easing, smear frames and using the wrong tool for the job. A pinned correction says the video is partly outdated given later AI developments.
8:24How the Minecraft Title Screen Seed was Found
10.8M views • 6 years ago
SalC1
SalC1 explains how the seed behind the Minecraft title screen panorama was found, using community effort and the Minecraft@Home project. It covers the search through Beta 1.7.3 world seeds.
Topic match · Game programming & engines
10:13The Problem with Time & Timezones - Computerphile
4.4M views • 12 years ago
Computerphile
Tom Scott explains for Computerphile why handling time and timezones in code is so hard, walking through a simple web app that computes how long ago something happened. It covers the quirks of timezones and calendars and ends in an exasperated rant.
Topic match · Software (other)
13:04The Big Lie About Nuclear Waste
4.8M views • 3 years ago
Cleo Abram
Cleo Abram's explainer on whether nuclear waste is really the intractable problem it is portrayed as, looking at how spent fuel can be recycled and used. It features a collaboration with Johnny Harris.
11:44World's Roundest Object!
38.5M views • 13 years ago
Veritasium
Veritasium explains the effort to redefine the kilogram, which was still defined by a physical artifact, and how a near-perfect silicon sphere from the Avogadro project helps. It also covers the history of the unit's odd naming.
19:59What Happens at the Event Horizon? | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios
3.2M views • 9 years ago
PBS Space Time
PBS Space Time explains what happens as you approach and cross a black hole's event horizon, using Penrose diagrams and light cones as the tool for understanding spacetime there.
12:40Tomb Raider on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance is incredible | MVG
906K views • 4 years ago
Modern Vintage Gamer
Modern Vintage Gamer looks at OpenLara, an open source Tomb Raider engine, running on the Game Boy Advance. The video explains how the port achieves playable speeds on the GBA's slow ARM CPU, with input from the developer XProger.
Topic match · Game programming & engines
7:16Unix and Google
9K views • 10 years ago
FOAM
A short animated simulation comparing how Multics and Unix were developed, showing why Unix's small composable programs and pipes gave it a efficiency advantage. It frames Unix as a moonshot achievable by a small team.
Topic match · Software architecture & design
4:44Debt Metaphor
95K views • 17 years ago
Ward Cunningham
Ward Cunningham explains the history and intent of the debt metaphor, which he coined while refactoring the WyCash product. He says debt means code reflecting an incomplete understanding of the problem, not sloppy programming.
Topic match · Software architecture & design
17:58What P vs NP is actually about
253K views • 2 years ago
Polylog
Polylog explains how algorithms can be turned into circuits and encoded as satisfiability problems, which lets you effectively run them backwards. It uses this to motivate breaking RSA, general reductions to SAT, and what P vs NP is really asking.
Topic match · Algorithms & data structures
13:09Moon Landings Faked? Filmmaker Says Not!
1.4M views • 13 years ago
VideoFromSpace
A filmmaker explains why the Apollo moon landing footage could not have been faked in a studio, based on the video and film technology of the late 1960s. He walks through the limits of cameras, frame rates and effects of the era.
Topic match · Audio & video engineering
19:37Why is Japan So Weak in Software?
968K views • 2 years ago
Asianometry
Asianometry examines why Japan's software industry has lagged despite its hardware strengths. It looks at dependence on US software and the low prestige of programming.
Topic match · History of computing
13:44Are Planes With Parachutes Really Safer?
1M views • 7 years ago
AVweb
AVweb's Paul Bertorelli analyzes the safety record of the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS), looking at the 90-plus deployments over 20 years of Cirrus flying. He asks whether the whole-aircraft parachute has actually saved lives.
Topic match · Aviation & aerospace engineering
8:55Are Space and Time An Illusion?
3.3M views • 11 years ago
PBS Space Time
A PBS Space Time episode hosted by Gabe Perez-Giz on the nature of spacetime and whether space and time are fundamental. It builds up reference frames and causality in a short, dense format.
4:20Why It's Impossible to Tune a Piano
4.1M views • 11 years ago
minutephysics
A minutephysics video explaining why a piano cannot be perfectly tuned, comparing equal temperament with just intonation and the math of harmonics.
9:07Which key is the saddest?
1.3M views • 9 years ago
Adam Neely
Musician Adam Neely examines whether certain keys sound sadder than others, looking at the history of tuning systems and temperaments and at how instrument timbre shapes the emotional character we hear. It draws on historical aesthetics writing and audio examples.
11:48Superluminal Time Travel + Time Warp Challenge Answer
1M views • 9 years ago
PBS Space Time
A PBS Space Time episode explaining why faster-than-light travel is equivalent to travelling back in time, using relativity and Minkowski diagrams for different observers.
8:09Google Earth’s Incredible 3D Imagery, Explained
3.1M views • 9 years ago
Nat and Friends
A short explainer from Nat and Friends on where Google Earth's 3D imagery comes from, how it is stitched together, and how often it is updated. It describes aircraft carrying camera rigs and photogrammetry that turns the photos into 3D models.
8:18Why the US Drops 14.7 Million Worms On Panama Every Week
3.5M views • 2 years ago
Half as Interesting
A Half as Interesting explainer on the US program that drops millions of sterile screwworm flies over Panama every week to keep the parasite out of North America.
8:52Is America Actually Metric?
3.4M views • 9 years ago
Veritasium
Veritasium explains that the US signed the Metre Convention in 1875 and that all US customary units are officially defined in terms of metric standards. It also touches on the standard kilogram.
11:39The Ingenious Design of the Aluminum Beverage Can
19.5M views • 11 years ago
engineerguy
Bill Hammack of Engineer Guy explains the engineering behind the aluminum beverage can: why it is cylindrical, how it is manufactured, why it narrows at the top, the double seam, and how the pull tab works.
Topic match · Product & industrial design
11:38The Economics of Airline Class
12.2M views • 9 years ago
Wendover Productions
Wendover Productions explains how airlines make money from different cabin classes and why premium seats matter so much to profits. It also touches on how this shaped decisions such as the decline of supersonic travel.
Topic match · Aviation & aerospace engineering
8:28The Fastest Way to Board a Plane Feels Like the Slowest
37.5M views • 7 years ago
CGP Grey
CGP Grey compares airplane boarding methods, based on an arXiv paper, and shows why the intuitive back-to-front approach is slow while random or outside-in boarding does better.
Topic match · Aviation & aerospace engineering
11:46Zipline - How Rwanda Built A Drone Delivery Service
1.6M views • 7 years ago
Real Engineering
Real Engineering explains how Zipline built a drone delivery network for medical supplies in Rwanda. It covers the fixed-wing drones, catapult launch, parachute drop and the logistics behind the service.
Topic match · Aviation & aerospace engineering
11:27CGA Graphics - Not as bad as you thought!
2.4M views • 10 years ago
The 8-Bit Guy
The 8-Bit Guy covers IBM's 1981 CGA graphics system, including how composite output and artifacting produced extra colors beyond the nominal palette. He argues CGA looked better in period than it does on RGB monitors.
Topic match · Demoscene & retrocomputing
15:09Mouse Cursor History (and why I made my own)
3M views • 8 years ago
Posy
Posy gives a short history of the computer mouse cursor, from early straight pointers to the tilted arrow, comparing Apple and Windows designs. He then explains why he designed his own cursor set and offers it as a free download.
Topic match · History of computing
10:08Big Plane vs Little Plane (The Economics of Long-Haul Flights)
4.3M views • 10 years ago
Wendover Productions
Wendover Productions explains why Boeing's efficient 787 beat Airbus's giant A380, contrasting hub-and-spoke with point-to-point routes. It covers the economics of long-haul flights.
Topic match · Aviation & aerospace engineering
8:21The Grille Trend that Kills 509 People per Year
1.3M views • 2 years ago
FortNine
FortNine looks at the data on why newer pickup trucks with tall, blunt grilles kill so many pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. It argues that lowering hood height would substantially cut fatalities.
Topic match · Product & industrial design
6:00Super Pointy Sprint Missile - 0 to Mach 10 in 15 Seconds - 100Gs & 6000°F
459K views • 6 years ago
Dark Footage
A short video on the US Sprint anti-ballistic missile, which accelerated to around Mach 10 in seconds under extreme g-forces and heat. It includes striking launch footage and a brief development history.
Topic match · Aviation & aerospace engineering
16:01Mars Helicopter (before it went to Mars)
6.2M views • 7 years ago
Veritasium
Veritasium's Derek Muller visits NASA JPL to see the Mars helicopter Ingenuity before it was mounted on the rover. He explains how it can fly in Mars's thin atmosphere with large, fast-spinning contra-rotating rotors and low mass, and covers power and cold.
Topic match · Aviation & aerospace engineering